And do we have data about how old those pilots were when they first started flying?
A good question also, there is nothing in the dataset that refers to that. However it is a stat that is worth investigating further from the ATSB point of view. If indeed that stat is reflected in Australia, then why are older pilots so susceptible to it. Is it age related, is it related to only older pilots can afford their own planes, is it related to a mindset or is it just a distribution of long term PPL, VFR pilots are older. Is it that the younger pilots not pushing conditions to get anywhere because they are just training for commercial purposes, and so on.
(BTW: Very big call to already conclude that this accident was caused by operating VFR in IMC. )
Not saying this was definitively a VFR into IMC accident, there's still other things that could have happened, just that the pilot fits into the over 40 category. If it does turn out to be the case it is a VFR into IMC it would be worth the ATSB looking into this quirk in statistics and maybe find some possible answers and things we can work on to drive the numbers down. I would say the few AF accidents that involved night/IMC misadventure were also older pilots as well. And BTW in no way is this an attack on older pilots, but a chance to figure out what decision making process is possibly different. It may just be a simple answer that the majority of PPL holders with their own planes are that old, maybe not.